PARACELIS, Mt. Province – A municipal tourism planning activity was conducted in this easternmost municipality last April 26-27 with the objective of preparing the municipality for eventual tourism development and promotion.
The activity was sponsored by the municipal government in coordination with the Provincial Tourism Office.
Mayor Avelino Amangyen, in his opening remarks, expressed appreciation for the planning activity which is being done for the first time to better the tourism industry of the town.
“We badly need this activity in the hope that the tourism of the municipality will take off,” he said.
He also informed the participants that ‘Man of the Philippines” contender Rjay Falisong will don the Bala’dang weaving costume in the cultural show during the contest.
This writer oriented the participants on basic tourism awareness, expounding on the basic concept of a tourist, the various players, and the social, economic, and cultural aspects tourism will bring to town.
Flora Madanom, the Municipal Tourism Action Officer, gave the municipal tourism situationer presenting the picture of the tourism in the municipality augmented by a provincial tourism situationer.
Tyronne Lawey from the Provincial Tourism Office conducted workshops on profiling the tourism industry in the municipality, value chain analysis on tourism, and interconnecting factors of the important players.
A tourism development plan will be derived from all these outputs not only for the development and promotion of the tourist spots but for the roles of the private sector and the municipal government to be spelled out.
An elder participant pointed out that the activity has given them the opportunity to plan for their tourism industry hoping that the tourism of the municipality will really take off in the near future.
Another said that Paracelis offers many tourist attractions and that tourism rules and regulations on waste management, customer service, and player-interactions should be in place before the arrival of tourists.
The conduct of related trainings in the future was also requested to better the tourism industry of the town.
Some 30 participants in the activity represented the tourism players such as the accommodation establishments, restaurants, transport, weaving or souvenir items businesses, and representatives from the municipal planning office, the municipal tourism office, the police, education department, and the barangay officials, among others.
Meanwhile, a validation of tourist attractions was conducted before and after the training.
By Roger Sacyaten
